Radical Party of Italy

The Radical Party (PR) was a radical political party in Italy that was active from 1955 to 1989. The party was founded as the result of a split in the Italian Liberal Party, with the left-wing of the PLI forming a new party that emphasized liberal and secular issues such as the separation of church and state and the full implementation of the Constitution. In 1979, the PR had its best electoral results ever, electing 18 deputies and 2 senators. The party's leader Marco Pannella succeeded in agitating for the legalization of divorce in 1974 and abortion in 1981, leading to the PR having electoral success. As the party supported libertarianism, it opposed the Italian Communist Party's economic programmes, supported direct democracy and referenda, and supported an American-style presidential system. In 1989, the Radical Party dissolved, having been reduced to 3/315 Senate seats and 13/630 Parliament seats in 1987.